2 bodies found in Maine house fire, man arrested

AP , Associated Press

Sep. 23, 20133:50 PM ET

OAKFIELD, Maine (AP) — A northern Maine man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting, three fires and the deaths of two people who were found inside a home that was the site of one of the fires.

Matthew Davis, 32, of Houlton, was arrested at 10:45 a.m. after three separate fires were reported before dawn in the small Aroostook County towns of Oakfield and Island Falls, state police said.

Firefighters pulled the bodies of a man and woman from a house in Oakfield as it was being consumed by fire, said Public Safety Department spokesman Steve McCausland. Their names have not been released pending notification of relatives.

A second fire was reported at Katahdin Forest Products in Oakfield. The third fire involved a pickup truck in Island Falls.

The state fire marshal and state police are investigating, McCausland said.

"We're trying to connect the dots of the deaths of the man and woman and the three fires," he said.

Police said they arrested Davis in Island Falls in a stolen vehicle. He was taken into custody and charged with stealing the car, McCausland said. Autopsies on the victims are scheduled for Tuesday to determine the cause of their deaths.

Classes at Southern Aroostook Community School in Dyer Brook, which serves students from Island Falls, Oakfield, Dyer Brook and other towns, were canceled following the shooting.

OAKFIELD, Maine (AP) — A northern Maine man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting, three fires and the deaths of two people who were found inside a home that was the site of one of the fires.